Large Family Moms Answer Your Questions

The 4 Moms, 35 Kids are answering reader questions this week. If you have a question that you would like a large family mom to answer, leave it in the comments here or email it privately if you wish.

We have four children 5 and under and my husband works out of town four days a week. Recently we have been traveling with him every other week where he works so the family can be together more. We stay in a hotel that does not have a kitchenette and may or may not have a microwave. We eat meals in to save money. I need some ideas for meals that are easy to fix and clean up. I do have a Nu-Wave oven that I took with us last time, which helped out some. Any ideas from your or your readers would be greatly appreciated! Also, ideas for entertaining little ones in the room is great too!

When my husband played golf professionally, we travelled with our 2 small children all around the state of Florida during one winter. We went from one hotel to the next for 2 solid months. I packed puzzles, coloring books, and videos, but the most popular item for keeping the little ones entertained was a wooden train track set.

As for food, what about packing your Crockpot? I have never used the liners, but if the price isn’t prohibitive, that would make cleanup a snap! Check out my post with over 100 Crockpot recipes for ideas on easy meals.

You always look so pretty and put together!

How do you find time for beauty and how do you keep it all pulled together? By the time my husband gets home in the afternoon I have glue in my hair, pudding on my shirt (or something that looks like pudding), and highlighter yellow finger tips.

Please help this new homeschool mommy find a way to keep from looking like a chewed rag.

Well, thank you! The truth is you only see the pictures and videos I choose to put on here. I promptly delete all chewed rag photos!

One morning as I was putting lotion on my face, my 7 year old asked, “Does that lotion get rid of wrinkles?” I replied, “Yes, it does.” “GOOD!” she sighed with relief.

She is the same extremely truthful child who, when I had brushed out my very frizzy hair one day, caught herself just short when she said, “Mommy!You look like a wi… like a crazy person!”

I try to look nice when I am going out or expecting company, but some days, I’m just glad if I don’t have spit up in my hair. I usually give myself 10-15 minutes to throw on some eyeliner and lipstick and check for stains on my shirt or peanut butter hand prints on my rear, and I call it good.

Comments

I would love to know how Mom’s of Many cope with all day/all the time morning sickness. I’ve tried every route from every natural thing to drugs w/little to no success. My older ones help out, but there’s only so much they can do. The rest of my house is suffering b/c I can’t be upright for more than a few minutes at a time. If my dear sweet hubby didn’t do 90% of our cooking already, our family just might starve! So any more suggestions? Cause, I’m plum out! :o)

Crissi,
I feel your pain. Honestly, I do! I suffered from hyperemesis gravida (the medical term for throwing up all day every day for 20 weeks) with all 5 of my babies. Every single time!

Have you tried Zofran? It is now generic. It was not when I had my babies, but for #4, I took a small amount (what I could afford), and then with #5, I had a Zofan pump. That was a catheter that was inserted with a needle in to my thigh every 12 hours. The tube was left in at all times and connected to a pump that I wore around my waist. It administered a steady stream of Zofran. I still felt terrible, but I could hold my head up for part of the day, and I did not throw up all day. Therefore, this was the only pregnancy that I did not end up in the hospital or clinic for IV fluids.

I hired a teenager to sit with my young children until my husband got home each day for several weeks.

I packed up all of the children and stayed with my parents during some pregnancies for a few weeks.

I stayed in bed or on the couch and just did the best I could. It was a horrible time. My house fell apart. My kids ate whatever.

I still can’t believe I survived it 5 times. The Lord just carried me through. I cried many tears and prayed many prayers.

Thanks Roan! I’ve used Zofran for 3 out of my pregnancies. The generic didn’t work for me though. :o( This time around our insurance doesn’t cover the cost of Zofran and so it puts it out of our price range. I have managed to stay out of the ER to be re-hydrated this time so I’m very thankful for that!

My hubby does work from home so he helps out an ENORMOUS amount! I just still feel like I’m so far behind, I’ll never see the end of the tunnel!!!

When I was reading the first question what immediately popped into my head was crockpot with liners. And that’s what was suggested! I HAVE used the liners and they work great. The cost isn’t prohibitive and occasionally I even come across a coupon for them. But I think that would be a great idea for this mom. Once the meal is over and you remove and throw away the liner you just need to wait until the crock cools off and then rinse with a little warm water, maybe a little soap if you like.

This is in response to the first question. I have also traveled with my husband and cooked many microwave meals. One of our family favorites is tacos/taco salad. If you have a large bowl you can easily cook ground beef in the microwave. Cook for only a minute at a time, and stir to break it up. All other ingredients are usually cold. We usually either microwave our shells or just buy tortilla chips for salads. I have also done pasta (usually shells, elbows, or mostacolli), chicken breast (as long as you season and DO NOT overcook). I have found that the frozon, pre-cooked lasagna from the grocery store is pretty good, just look on the package to make sure it can be microwaved. I have done sloppy joes, spagetti, meatball subs, etc… Sorry so long, I just have a lot of experience in this area!

For the second question–
My husband almost always calls when he is on the way home. I know that gives me about 15 minutes to give myself, the kiddos and the house a once-over to make sure we are all presentable. We turn on a really fun fiddlin’ cd that the children love to run around to and they pick up as much as they can in about 10 minutes. I change clothes if I need to, put on some perfume and do my makeup. Then, I redo the little ones’ hair and wipe off any jelly left over from lunch time.
I’ve found that if I’m put together (a little bit!) and the house at least looks like we made an attempt to prepare for Daddy, the evening starts on a sweeter note. When I smell good, it’s easier to smile at him and give him that well-deserved kiss when he walks through the door. I think he appreciates it more then too!
The 15 minute warning works wonders in our home!

PS I have found an easy up-do based on a ponytail keeps my hair away from sticky fingers, but still looks pretty…and it takes a grand total of 45 seconds!

It is actually illegal to bring cooking items into some hotels/in some areas. And believe me, once you have something on in the room it is very hard to mask the smell that travels into the hallways. Just an FYI.